


Holiday Traditions

by Kittens



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas, Holding Hands, Ice Skating, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:13:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28215279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kittens/pseuds/Kittens
Summary: Armitage has never truly celebrated Christmas before. It's up to Kylo to show him what he's been missing out on.
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 10
Kudos: 18
Collections: Kylux Secret Santa 2020





	Holiday Traditions

**Author's Note:**

  * For [KatiesGhost](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KatiesGhost/gifts).



Armitage rolled over in bed and as he felt the empty space next to him, he instantly became awake. It wasn’t often that Kylo woke up before him, and Armitage couldn’t help but think that something was wrong. 

He pulled on his robe and put his soft, pink, cat slippers on when the scent of frying bacon reached him. That explained where Kylo was, at least. Armitage left their bedroom and headed to the kitchen where he saw a complete mess. There were bowls and spoons everywhere and it seemed like everything from the cabinets was out on the counters.

The second thing Armitage noticed was his husband, wearing pajama pants and no shirt. He stood at the stove, cooking bacon. Kylo turned shortly after Armitage entered and smiled. Armitage couldn’t help but fall in love with him a little more every time he saw that smile.

“Morning!” he said cheerfully before turning his attention back to the pan of bacon.

“What’s all this?” Armitage asked looking around the kitchen. He was clearly making more than just bacon. 

“Just making breakfast,” Kylo said. He moved from the bacon to another pan on the stove and turned over some hashbrowns.

“For how many people?” Armitage asked. In addition to the bacon and hashbrowns, there were eggs, muffins, and it looked like he was about to make pancakes as well. Armitage knew that Kylo had a big appetite, but it still seemed like far too much.

“We have a big day ahead of us,” Kylo said. “It’s December!”

“Yes, I know,” Armitage said, wondering what that had to do with making a large breakfast. After he spoke, he vaguely remembered telling Kylo they could decorate their new house for Christmas. They’d decided that they’d decorate on the first Saturday in December.

“We’ll go get decorations first,” Kylo said as he moved away from the stove and started mixing up pancake batter. “And then we can get lunch and come back to put everything up. Then tonight, I thought we could get a tree and go ice skating.”

“I can’t ice skate,” Armitage mumbled.

“I can teach you. And it’s not really about being able to skate. It’s just a fun way to spend time together in winter.”

“Oh.” Armitage wouldn’t know about that. He hadn’t exactly had a happy childhood, and he’d never had a chance to do anything that might be considered fun. At least Kylo was helping him make up for that.

“It’ll be fun, I promise,” Kylo said. He walked over to give Armitage a quick kiss and then darted back to the stove to check on the bacon. 

Armitage would just have to trust Kylo on that. At least he knew that Kylo could be trusted. He finished stirring the pancake batter and seeing that the griddle was ready, he poured the batter on. 

Soon, they were sitting at the table with far too much food, but Kylo was happy, so Armitage couldn’t complain. As they ate, Kylo talked about all the decorations that he wanted to get. It definitely sounded like it would be far too much — lights and yard decorations and a tree in the house — but Armitage couldn’t bring himself to kill Kylo’s enthusiasm. And it wasn’t as if they couldn’t afford it. Armitage had a good job and Kylo had a significant amount of money from his family.

Once they’d finished breakfast, they started to clean up, but as soon as the extra food was in the refrigerator, Kylo grabbed Armitage by the arm, pulling him away from the sink.

“We can clean later,” Kylo said.

“You know it’s easier if we clean up immediately,” Armitage reminded him. Not that it would change anything — he knew Kylo was excited to get going on the day. “Go get dressed and bring some clothes down for me. I’ll get as much of this cleaned up in the meantime.”

Kylo gave him a quick kiss and took off, and Armitage knew he needed to get as much done as fast as he could. But he was very fast at cleaning, and although it was far from perfect, the worst of the mess had been dealt with by the time Kylo returned downstairs. Armitage could hear his heavy footsteps as he walked into the kitchen.

“Here,” he said, holding out a pair of folded pants and a sweater. One that Armitage was sure he’d never seen before. It was too colorful to be one of his, and Kylo usually preferred all black as well. But he was currently wearing a black and red sweater with a pink flamingo in a santa hat.

Armitage took the clothes from Kylo and quickly pulled his pants on and put on the undershirt and socks. Then, he unfolded the sweater — he definitely had never seen that sweater in his life. It was blue with black and white designs on the bottom. There were silver stars near the top and in the middle, there was an orange cat with the words “Meowy Christmas” written under it.

“We can trade sweaters if you like,” Kylo said, tugging at the bottom of his. “Or I can go get you something else. You don’t have to wear it.”

“It’s ridiculous,” Armitage said as he put the sweater on. He then stepped forward to kiss Kylo on the cheek. “Just like you.”

Shopping was just about like Armitage expected — mostly terrible. The stores felt crowded and loud, the exact type of place Armitage normally would avoid. He’d prefer to spend his days off relaxing at home, or at a quiet coffee shop, or going for a walk in an uncrowded park. Anytime he had to go to the store, he went early in the morning or later at night.

Under any normal circumstances, he’d hate being at a busy store on a Saturday in December, but he couldn’t even care about the crowds. Not when Kylo was so happy to be picking out all the decorations he wanted. 

They had a cart full of lights and other decorations for the outside of the house, but Kylo wasn’t even near done. He turned down another aisle and started to pick out some ornaments. Armitage imagined they’d get a small tree as it was just the two of them, but judging by the amount of ornaments Kylo was getting, he had something else in mind.

“Stockings!” Kylo suddenly called, pushing the cart forward. “We definitely need stockings!”

“We do?” Armitage asked. It took him a moment to remember what they were for — he’d never had one growing up and only read about them in books. 

“Yeah! Pick one out for me and I’ll get one for you!”

Armitage looked at the large selection of oversized socks hanging on the wall in front of him. He had no idea there was such a variety of stockings and he had no idea which one to get Kylo. Just as he was about to grab the one closest to him, he noticed one that was darker than the rest. It had galaxy print and glitter. Kylo was definitely getting that one. 

When Armitage put Kylo’s stocking in the cart, he saw the one that Kylo had picked out for him. The entire stocking was an orange fox, complete with two ears on the top. 

“Made me think of you,” Kylo said with a smile before he continued on his way to pick out wrapping paper. The last thing they did was grab some candy, and then, they were finally ready to leave the store, but they were far from done shopping.

Kylo went to two more stores to get even more Christmas things before they finally stopped for lunch. Not that Armitage was really hungry. Still, he at least ate a little bit, not wanting to worry Kylo. 

Once they’d finished lunch, they were finally on their way home. Kylo parked on their driveway and they started unloading everything they bought. Armitage started to take things inside while Kylo put aside the decorations for the outside of the house. After getting everything inside that needed to be, Armitage headed for the kitchen and finished cleaning up.

“Armitage?” Kylo called just as he’d finished getting the kitchen back in order.

“I’m in the kitchen!” he called back.

“Hey,” Kylo said, walking into the room. “You okay?”

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Well you just disappeared,” Kylo said. “I thought we were going to put the lights up.”

“I thought you were going to do that,” Armitage said. “I was just cleaning up in here, but we can go do the decorations now.” 

Armitage took his husband’s hand and went back outside where he found that Kylo had already started getting the decorations ready. Several things were already out in their yard, extension cords were everywhere and there was a ladder with lights on top of it. Armitage started to get everything in the yard hooked up while Kylo put lights on the house.

They had more than enough lights for the house, so they put some along their fence as well. It definitely felt like too much for Armitage, but Kylo seemed to like it. And they still had decorating to do on the inside of the house. 

Kylo seemed to have gotten all new things that were Christmas themed. Pillows, blankets, kitchen towels, utensils, candles — Kylo bought it all. And then there were the random things to hang off of various surfaces.

By the time they were done, the sun was just starting to go down and Armitage was ready to curl up in bed with Kylo. After such a long day, nothing sounded better than cuddling with his husband.

“Guess it’s time to get the tree!” Kylo announced, grabbing Armitage by the hand and starting to pull him back outside.

“Maybe we should do that tomorrow,” Armitage suggested. “We’ve done plenty for today.”

“We should go now and make sure we get a good one,” Kylo said.

“At least let me grab a coat first,” Armitage said as he pulled his hand away. “It’s going to be cold.”

Kylo let go of his hand and Armitage grabbed his coat as well as a hat and some gloves. He thought about grabbing some stuff for Kylo too, but he was never cold. Curling up next to him on a cold night was wonderful because he was always so warm. Armitage, on the other hand, always felt cold and needed many layers if he was going out at night in winter.

Armitage got back in the car and Kylo turned on some music — Christmas songs, of course. It wasn’t the irritating stuff they played in the stores. Instead, Kylo had somehow found metal versions of Christmas carols, which did not surprise Armitage at all. Of course he did.

It wasn’t a long drive to get to the lot where all the trees were set up but the sun was just disappearing beyond the horizon as they got out of the car. Armitage couldn’t help but shiver as he left the heated air and he quickly cozied up to Kylo as they started to look at the trees. They all looked the same to Armitage, but Kylo didn’t seem to like any of them.

Finally, Kylo stopped at a section of taller trees. Kylo reached out with one hand, keeping his other hand in Armitage’s. When Kylo stood the tree up, it was taller than both of them.

“What do you think of this one?” Kylo asked.

“It’s a little big,” Armitage said.

“Yeah, but we have space for it and it’ll look great!”

It really was too big, Armitage thought, but it wasn’t like it really mattered. If it made Kylo happy to have a giant tree in their house, then Armitage wasn’t about to stop him. Within minutes, they had paid for the tree and were carrying it to their car and tying it down to the top.

They didn’t head home and Armitage remembered that there was one more thing that Kylo wanted to do that day. As much as he’d rather curl up under a blanket at home, he loved how happy Kylo was and he wasn’t about to ruin that. He just hoped he wouldn’t want to spend too long skating.

Once they were at the rink, Kylo paid their admission and they were given wristbands before they went over to the skate rental booth. Kylo got two pairs of skates and then they sat down on the bench. Armitage didn’t really like the idea of putting his foot in a boot that someone else had worn, but he also didn’t want to try getting on the ice in his shoes, so he slowly slid his feet in the skates.

“You gotta make sure you tie them tight,” Kylo said. “Otherwise your ankle’s gonna move around and you’ll be unstable.”

“I think I’m going to be unstable no matter how tightly they’re tied,” Armitage said. He didn’t bother redoing the skate he’s already tied, because he knew he wasn’t going to be able to skate anyway. He’d try to make it around one time and then he’d stand on the edge of the rink and watch Kylo. It’d probably be more enjoyable for both of them that way.

With their skates on, they made their way to the ice, Armitage needing to hold on to Kylo just to walk. If that much was difficult, he couldn’t imagine how hard it would be once they were on actual ice. He was starting to think that one lap around might be a little ambitious.

Kylo stepped onto the ice without a problem, but Armitage hesitated. He was sure that as soon as he put his blade on the slippery surface, he’d fall flat on his butt. 

“Maybe I should just watch,” Armitage suggested. 

“Don’t worry,” Kylo said. “If you fall, I’ll catch you.”

Armitage was still unsure, but he knew that he could trust Kylo. He’d never let him get hurt. He put one blade on the ice and didn’t instantly fall, but the hard part was getting the second foot out there. As soon as he picked up his other skate, he was certain he would fall, but when he looked up at Kylo, he knew he was safe.

Surprisingly, he managed to get his other skate on the ice while staying upright.

“See?” Kylo said. “It’s not nearly as hard as it looks!”

“I’m not sure I’ll be able to move,” Armitage said. With both feet on the ice, he didn’t really think he would be able to pick one of them up. 

“Sure you will,” Kylo said, as he held onto Armitage’s hands a little tighter. “Hold on!”

Kylo started to move, skating backwards and dragging Armitage along with him. They weren’t going fast, but it still felt too fast for Armitage, as he wasn’t quite stable on his feet. But he kept hold of Kylo, knowing that he would protect him if he fell.

“Once you feel ready, pick up a foot,” Kylo said. “Doesn’t have to be much. Just a little to get used to it.”

Armitage thought he’d never be ready to lift a foot, but he found himself doing it anyway. Kylo continued to help him, until he was actually skating. He still held onto Kylo’s hand, but he felt like he might be able to stay up for a few seconds if he let go. He didn’t let go, not only because he didn’t want to fall, but because he wanted to keep holding Kylo’s hand.

Armitage had never thought he’d be ice skating, but then he’d also never thought he’d fall in love or get married. Every day with Kylo was the happiest of his life and he couldn’t help but smile as they continued to skate around.

“I’ve been waiting for that,” Kylo said.

“What?”

“You’ve seemed kinda down all day,” Kylo said. “I was hoping I’d be able to get a smile out of you.”

“Oh.” Armitage didn’t know what to say to that and he hadn’t even realized that he hadn’t been his usual self. “Sorry.”

“No, it’s okay. But you know you can always talk to me if something’s bothering you.”

“I know,” Armitage said, stopping and facing Kylo. He gave him a quick kiss, but the moment he stopped paying attention to his feet, he lost his balance and fell into Kylo. Immediately, Kylo wrapped his arms around him and held him up, deepening the kiss at the same time.

“Let’s get some hot chocolate,” Armitage said as he regained his footing.

Soon, they were sitting on a bench, each holding a warm cup, although it wasn’t quite enough to keep Armitage warm. He scooted closer to Kylo, trying to take some of his warmth as well.

“I’ve never done any of this stuff before,” Armitage said once he was nice and cozy against Kylo. “All this Christmas stuff.”

“I know,” Kylo said. “That’s why I wanted to make sure you got to experience it all this year since it’s our first Christmas together.”

“We were dating last year,” Armitage reminded him.

“Yeah, but we weren’t married and we lived in separate apartments and you were at work most of the day and didn’t come over.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Armitage said. “I didn’t realize Christmas involved so much.”

“Is it too much? We don’t have to do all this. I just thought it’d be nice. Since you haven’t done this before.”

Armitage almost told him that it was. Trees and lights and ornaments and spending an evening ice skating was completely unnecessary. They didn’t need to do any of that. But Armitage realized that it didn’t matter, because he wanted to do it. Smiling, he rested his head on Kylo’s shoulder.

“It’s all perfect,” he said.


End file.
